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AN: So.. I'm back! I have to say.. all that absence from this project made it pretty hard to get back into it.. I promised a chap of the origin story.. still writing on it, honestly, it's difficult to get into that after so much time passed.. but I'll try to deliver it tomorrow, alongside another chapter of this version.

If I don't release a new chap of the origin story, that's because I write on the plot of the origin story (it had none previously which led to me screwing up the pacing.. but I think I can do something with that). Once the plot for origin is done, I'll write on it more.

PS: I tried creating a wordpress site. Still working on it. Especially the tables are time consuming.

Btw.. I wrote a dozen or so of other stories. The concepts and first few pages. Nothing beyond that. Anyone interested in an idea for a story?

“Well.. it looks like there was no mistake concerning this matter. They request for a ton of steel, delivered to the village over multiple transactions for the next few months. We have confirmed that they somehow managed to obtain the money necessary to do so. Business is business, but.. have someone check the situation in that village.”

Thus a few hundred kilogram of steel set out towards the village of Aspertia, alongside a person with rather clear instructions. With this delivery on the way, another had already reached its destination..

- To Mark Grey, know as the trader “The Grey”:

The lord of Aspertia, in honor of your continuous contribution to the village, offers you the post of the villages personal trader, managing the trading outpost of the village. This post would come with various benefits, but once accepted it is not possible to leave this position. Please understand that should you decline this offer, his lordship would be greatly disappointed in you, but respecting your rights as an individual, you are given the right to decline this offer.

His lordship also wanted to congratulate you on your sisters birthday. She is of marriageable age now, one can say that she is a lucky girl, able to live happily due to her caring brother. We hope that this luck will always stay with her.

Fernande de Fiero, by his name lord of Aspertia -

“Don't know your face. What is your purpose coming to this remote village?”

“I.. came to deliver the steel requested by the lord of this village.”

“If you want to trade, there's an outpost for that, over there. Without the lords decree, no one is to enter the city.”

“But these goods have been ordered by the lord!”

“Do you have a decree stating that you are allowed into the city to deliver them? If not, then you may deliver to the outpost instead.”

“Why can't I just enter the village?”

“Those are the orders I've been given. I follow the orders. I don't need another reason, so I did not ask for it. Now go.”

“Boys, everyone's here right? So, ya wanna know why I called ya here right? Well, the lord himself issued a request! And I support him concerning this matter! And that request is, really, it's simple.. ya tell someone from outside about our little miracleworker, and ya'll be kicked out of this guild, the definite way.. you boys understand? So, all me and his lordship request from you guys is that you don't do anything stupid, but I'm sure you're smart people. Right? You survived magical beasts, ain't gonna let yourself get killed out of pure stupidity right?”

...

“Hey, what's with the mood?? Just look at the stuff you're using right now, how many times has it saved your life within the short time you've been using it? And who made it? Ya want that guy to leave just because ya couldn't keep your mouth shut?? No right? Hey! To lighten up the mood, one round of ale for everyone! The lord himself is paying!”

“The regulations on new inventions?”

“Also decreed invalid. If we want to advance, there's only one way to go, forward. And this stuff keeps dragging us back.”

“With this.. doesn't the guild house loose it's purpose?”

“Ah, you misunderstand.. I talked over this with his lordship. We will not loose our purpose. We will gain it. You saw those tools right? Any of those is on our lists? No. How long would it take for them to be? Too long. And what do they do? Earn those who sell them a lot of money. And who will those people be if we keep this up? Not us. So, the decision we have to make should be obvious right? Nothing can stop a divine. We either go with him, or he'll go past us.”

“The humans seem to deify you a bit too much..”

“Yeah, but that's a good thing right?”

“Didn't you say that we would have to show them other inventions to reach this level?”

“Well, those toys have stirred quite the uproar.. they were only meant to catch their attraction, yet they were enough to keep it.. but I guess creating actually useful goods anyways won't do any harm. By the way, it's been two months now? What do you think of humans?”

“At first I thought they were.. well, what I heard from the tales. Cruel cowards, happy to kill the weak while covering in front of the strong. And the first encounters we had... but now I understand that their mind is just like ours.”

“And, sorry, nothing against you but.. that's exactly what makes them dangerous. But I think you understand what I'm trying to say?”

“..yes. I understand it well.”

“I know it must be rather unpleasant to spend your days like this.. Sorry for being so selfish, but looking at the level of technology in this world just makes me want to change something about it. Anything you would like to do?”

“There is no need to apologize. I realized I'm far from knowing enough about this world to set my goals yet. But you will teach me, correct?”

“Of course. We've got a thousand years to shape this world. Let's make the best out of that time!”

(But to do so.. I'll need some space..)

It was terrible. A fire had burned down multiple buildings, killed some and injured many. The cause was most likely an accident, something like this could happen.. yet that didn't mean anyone considered this situation to be normal. But the usual panic, chaos and sadness one would expect in such a situation, in the small village of Aspertia, there was nothing of the like to be found. They were happily building.. not rebuilding what had been burned down, but creating anew. The buildings were much taller, but it was especially the basement that had been enlarged.. Mana called it a “Foundation”. A “seed” was planted into the ground, and from it grew a building like which the villagers had never seen before.. and they were the ones creating it!

Steel was an expensive material.. to use it for building a house? Not even the nobles would have thought of such an idea! But the way it was used minimized the quantity, so it actually wasn't that expensive! Furthermore he used a strange powder that, when mixed with water, would turn into stone! And they were build with windows made from glass! Houses build from stone and steel, with glass windows, in a village like theirs!

Those who had lost their houses were actually happy about it! Many of them had been injured in the fire, but that didn't affect the joy they felt about being able to live in such a building! The new buildings made it so that a lot of space remained unused.. there was still a lot of free space even after the craftsman had been gifted his own house within the village by the lord. For Mana, the privacy they now had made many things possible..

(Hmm.. it's late summer, soon it's going to be time for harvest.. which would be the perfect time for creating some new tools..)

“BANG”

“You're making progress. Getting used to the recoil?”

“Yes. This.. truly is a terrifying weapon.. rather than controlling it, I feel like I'm merely borrowing it's strength..”

“That's normal. That's just the difference of a gun and a sword.. a sword, if you don't know how to use it, it's not that dangerous. A gun.. point, click, and even if you didn't kill, as long as you hit someone..”

“Do you intend.. to sell this too?”

“Nope. Giving this into the hands of humans will only lead to a catastrophe (still, for all the necessary goods to be this easy to acquire.. there is something strange about this situation..)”

“I see.. I feel relieved about that.”

“I get it.. ah, I intend to have a conversation with the lord, could we go to his residence?”

“Sure..”

“Ah, it's Deus? You're here to talk to his lordship?”

“Yep.”

“Just wait a minute, I'll inform him right away..”

(Wait a minute huh? I only “invented” this unit recently, language sure adapts to society.. since I'm distributing my inventions for almost free within the village, this has become a place entirely different from the outside world.. with me at it's center.. I tell them to jump into an abyss, they'd probably do it.. that's a good mindset.)

“He's in his room. You know the way!”

...

“Ah Deus! You have something to discuss with me?”

“Tickatickatcikatcik..”

(Geez, this clockmaniac..)

“Yes, it's about the remaining space.. I think I know how it could be put to good use.”

It was time for the harvest. This happened every year, and it was always the same, their village was blessed with a stable climate.. but this year it would be different. MUCH different. The many farmers laid aside their scythes, and watched. Two horses, two men, and a construction from wood and steel. Instead of a group of farmers, it would be them taking care of this field. And for the onlookers, who knew just how much time and effort one would usually have to put in to achieve what was just being done in front of their eyes.. it was beautiful.

This was being done on all of the fields. Many people who would have had to work during this time now did not. And they knew exactly just what they would devote their free time to..

After the sheaves had been given time to dry, many people would have to spend much time threshing and winnowing the grain. But here again, a machine powered by a single person took care of those procedures easily, faster than they could ever had hoped to do it by hand. They knew who they had to thank for making their lives easier.. and he gave them a means to do so. And the newest buildings within the village grew, as did the number of people working on them..

While Mana and Quintus were treated like divine beings.. one would be shocked by the contrast between their lifestyle and that of the elves of the southern lake village. An unknown sickness had befallen the tribe, it began after someone had been bitten by a beast that he never encountered before.. this was not a single case, hunting had become difficult as the beasts of the forest seemed to migrate for an unknown reason.. as if they were searching for something. This made the beasts known to the tribe leave, they were replaced by beasts they had never encountered before.. not knowing their abilities, many hunters were injured.

Those events occurred but a few weeks ago, the hunters would adapt to their new prey some day.. but right now, the village was in a disastrous situation. An injured person would heal if given the time and represented no danger.. but a sick person? Not only did a long, painful death await, such a person represented a danger for everyone nearby. Their skin would swell, turn red as if it had been boiled, with a black dot at its center. Even thought they were begged for the cure, the Caballs had no information about such a disease, they were desperate.. but their behavior, even with this situation, was... abnormal.

The only member of the family that seemed to be somewhat composed about the situation was Carmela, the youngest. She, in contrast to her parents, had not given up.. and had been looking through the many books of the family for weeks. Yet, instead of finding a clue to curing this disease, she found something.. different.Aand she soon understood that this text was part of the answer she had been looking for. Alongside this realization came something else. She had looked up to her parents, loved them as their daughter.. but for them to have done something like this, she was unable to keep those feelings.

She had felt pity for them, since even she realized that her parents had gone insane, mumbling about “divine punishment” soon after the sickness had spread.. believing it was normal to break under such incredible stress, she had been amazed at herself.. but now she understood that the reason her parents behaved like this was different from what she thought entirely. And even as her daughter, she could only feel disgust towards what her parents had done.

The disease remained incurable, all that could be done to prevent the worst from happening was “cleansing by fire”. This was a method that had been known for a long, long time.. and while efficient, it was one that no one wanted to use for obvious reasons. Many families lost a member due to either the disease or its “cure”, and their respect towards the Caballs alongside it. They had been held in high regards, but with two of three members having gone insane, and the fact they had been useless during this crisis.. many considered the death of their family and friends to be their fault.

This only added oil to the fire of Carmela's parents condition, which in turn fueled the insults and open threats towards them.. and Carmela was dragged into this cycle. She would have left long ago, but where to? That, and the faint remains of what had been love towards her parents kept her from taking the decision of leaving them. That is until her parents took this decision themselves.. the definite way.

Given what she had to go through, for her to still remain sane was a remarkable feat. But when she saw that her parents had “left” Carmela felt.. as if she had been freed. It was a “wrong” feeling, she knew that.. but she couldn't help but feel that way. Without “chains” to bind her anymore, there was nothing hindering her from leaving anymore. She still didn't know where she should go, yet she left anyways, knowing that this was the only way to ever reach her destination. And the Caball family was no more.

???

“Some.. unexpected changes in the village of Aspertia? Buildings as tall as palaces, build within but a few months?! The stream of new quality goods originates from that very village!? .. I understand. This is something that must be resolved quickly, right? Now.. that is but a small village, I am sure that it should still be possible to clean up this mess. I will take care of it.. about the one responsible, he seems to be focused on technology.. I understand it is us who will keep him? Yes. And may the pact remain eternal.”

Time passed, and the new buildings grew. Meanwhile, in the forest near Aspertia:

(This signal.. a runaway!! Could it be we really found a runaway!!!)